Egypt delays flotilla from Syria

GAZA, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Egypt has delayed a flotilla from Syria bound for the Gaza Strip with medical supplies and vehicles, those on board said.

Flotilla participants from around the world, some of whom were aboard the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship Israeli troops stopped from violating a blockade in May, are aboard the flotilla named the Viva Palestina, Ynet News reported Thursday.

The flotilla left the Lattakia port in Syria carrying 380 participants from 42 countries, and was joined by others from Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, and the Persian Gulf, Ynet reported.

Flotilla organizers said they had planned for thousands of participants, but Egypt's refusal to permit entry to some participants, as well as other delays, diminished the count.

Organizers said provisions on board include 100 vehicles carrying 500 tons of food and medical supplies.

"We are determined to reach Gaza as soon as possible with the aim of handing out the supplies to civilians and showing we have not abandoned them," Kevin Ovenden, one of the flotilla's leaders, said.